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:This article is about Fox's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Melee. For the character in other contexts, see Fox McCloud. Announced at E3 2001, Fox ( , Fox) is a playable starter character in Super Smash Bros. Melee. He is emblematic of speed and he can dominate foes with his rapid attacks, quick movement and overpowering offense in all areas of his game. He is placed 1st on the Melee tier list due to these advantages. True to his position, Fox is an extremely efficient fighter with fast attacks, excellent comboing and damaging ability, long recovery options, and numerous approaching methods boasting some of the best neutral game options among the entire cast. He has KO options and setups at a wide variety of percentages, and his high falling speed makes him resilient to vertical KOs. His aerial game also includes several low-lag yet effective and powerful moves to complement his ground game, especially when SHFFL'd, and is incredibly effective at approaching and edgeguarding. Fox's main tool in his success, however, is his Reflector (also known as the shine), which is one of the most versatile tools in the game. Aside from its intended purpose, the Reflector activates on frame 1 (making it the fastest move in the game), has set knockback, and can be jump canceled; this allows for shine spike gimps, neutral stance resets, getup option mixups, and even combos when wavedashing is incorporated. Despite being top tier, Fox is not flawless. His high falling speed makes him very easy to combo and chaingrab off of a single conversion from the opponent, and his light weight can result in extremely early horizontal KOs if the player's DI is poor. Although he boasts a very long recovery distance, he only has linear recovery options, which makes it easier for certain characters like to predict his recovery path and edgeguard or gimp him. Fox also has an extremely high technical learning curve, as most of his techniques require extremely nimble fingers and fast reaction time. Also, due to his aforementioned flaws, Fox is considered to be a glass cannon, where he could lose a stock if a single mistake is made, giving him a high cerebral learning curve. So while Fox has incredible fighting process and potential, many consider Fox to be arguably the hardest character to play as and master, requiring a lot of practice. Regardless, his pros greatly outshine his cons, and Fox is notable for being one of only four characters in the series (the other three being in Smash 64, in Melee, and in Brawl) to have no disadvantageous matchups, with only three ( , and ) being considered even. Attributes Fox falls into a unique archetype: He is exceptionally quick, yet he is equipped with a plethora of viable finishers. He has the second fastest dashing speed (which remedies his low air speed somewhat), tied with for the fastest walking speed, the third fastest normal falling speed, tied with for the second fastest fast falling speed, fast dash-dancing, and fast attacks. His low traction and fast jump (only 3 frames before he leaves the ground) gives him a fast, moderately long wavedash. Fox's primary reason for his top-tier placing is his unparalleled comboing and damaging ability, helped by a powerful approach game. His fast fall and low, fast short hop contribute to an extremely quick SHFFL, which can let him almost effortlessly start combos or act as a deadly approach option. Additionally, Fox's specials act as powerful ways to aid this; his Reflector makes for a potential combo starter, as well as a potential infinite combo with his waveshine infinite, and his Blaster is an almost unstoppable damage-racking method, due to its long range, inability to cause hitstun, high speed and its ability to be combined with Fox's short hop as part of the short hop laser technique. Additionally, a majority of Fox's attacks inflict significant damage while being very fast as well; his , , and tilts are especially notable in this regard, with the remainder of his aerials having little ending lag. Additionally, Fox's KO ability is also among the best in the game, with numerous powerful vertical finishers in his arsenal, most notably his and , both of which are among the most powerful in the game with huge hitboxes. Fox's Reflector also makes for a valuable tool for KOing, due to its set, semi-spike knockback properties that makes it extremely useful for edgeguarding or gimping. Its instantaneous startup time and its ability to be jump-cancelled also means that it is of very low risk to use off the edge. While not the strongest, Fox's forward smash is an effective horizontal finisher at higher damage percentages, capable of KOing even heavyweights like Bowser under 150%. While not the best, Fox's grab game is decent. His throws' low knockback allow him to set up potentially lethal combos. His can lead into a sweet spotted up aerial, one of Fox's primary KO methods, and can even chain throw fast fallers. His forward and back throws force opponents a fair distance off the stage, aptly setting up opportunities for Fox to use his smashes, aerials, or shine spikes to edgeguard. In rare situations, Fox can use his down throw to meteor smash his opponents off the edge of a stage. Despite this, Fox's grab range is average, though his high dashing speed gives him a potential method to "extend" its range. Fox also cannot reliably chain grab at higher percentages, as most of Fox's throws send opponents a considerable distance away from him, allowing players with good SDI to escape combos. Despite being a top-tiered character and considered among the most powerful in Melee, Fox is not completely infallible. Because he is a light fast faller, he suffers more hitstun but less vertical knockback. As such, nearly every character can juggle or chaingrab him for decent damage or even to KO percents with little chance for Fox to escape ( and being notorious for having deadly chaingrab combos on Fox at ). As a result, Fox can be considered somewhat of a glass cannon, as while his attack prowess is high, a single blunder by the player can cause the loss of a stock. In addition to an ease of being comboed, Fox also suffers from a rather exploitable recovery. On paper, despite being a fast faller with poor air speed and the highest gravity value amongst the fighters, Fox's recovery is among the best in the game, as his two options, Fire Fox and Fox Illusion, both travel extremely long distances. He can also mix up his recovery options by angling Fire Fox in nearly any direction and shortening his Fox Illusion, making the opponent second-guess themselves about where they should be on the stage to intercept Fox's recovery. However, such techniques are also extremely dangerous if incorrectly spaced, as if the opponent obtains the correct read or gets into a position where they can hit him out of his recovery, Fox will most likely not be able to recover again. A multitude of attacks can intercept both moves, such as 's Cape or 's down aerial, and top-tiered characters generally have the options to cover several of Fox's recovery options at once, or even chase Fox off-stage before he even has the chance to recover. Fox has the option of wall jumping in an attempt to further his recovery attempts; this technique, however, is situational, as there are very few positions where wall jumping would be more beneficial to him than simply recovering conventionally. Changes from Smash 64 to Melee Fox received a mix of buffs and nerfs upon making the transition between games but was buffed overall, with an increase in K.O power, recovery, and movement options. Aesthetics * * Attributes * * * * Ground Attacks * * * * * * * * Aerial Attacks * * * * * * * * Grabs and Throws * * Special Moves * * * * * PAL differences Like other characters, Fox has received some changes in the PAL version of Melee, which nerfed him overall, but it does not severely affect his tournament viability, as he is also ranked 1st on the PAL tier list. * 's down throw.}} * .}} * * * Moveset For a gallery of Fox's hitboxes, see here. (clean), (late) |fsmashdesc=Performs a flying hook kick. Has moderately low knockback (extremely low base knockback - 10) for a smash, though it is fast, and is actually quite reliable at higher percentages (very high knockback scaling - 105), KOing usually at around 120%. |usmashname=Flip Kick |usmashdmg= / (clean NTSC/PAL), (late) |usmashdesc=Performs a backflip kick. This move is very fast, and when used on the ground while facing the foe, it has very high vertical knockback. It is very reliable at mid-high damages. Shine into up smash is very useful for KOs. Widely considered the best u-smash in the game due to its extreme speed, extreme power, decent range, and ability to be easily set up into it. However, it is actually the second most powerful u-smash in the game, behind 's. Fox's head is intangible during the early part of the animation. |dsmashname= |dsmashdmg= / (feet NTSC/PAL), (legs) |dsmashdesc=Does a split kick, hitting on both of his sides. It is fast and has moderate knockback, sending opponents on a semi-spike trajectory. Useful for edgeguarding and spacing. Both of Fox's legs are intangible near the start of the move. |nairname= |nairdmg=12% (clean), 9% (late) |nairdesc=Sticks his foot out, a simple sex kick. A very quick aerial, good against shields and great power when it first comes out. Arguably the best nair in the game due to its combo ability and reliable setups into shine. |fairname= |fairdmg=7% (hit 1), 5% (hit 2), 6% (hit 3), 4% (hit 4), 3% (hit 5) |fairdesc=Kicks forward five times. Good knockback when all hits connect. Regrettably, this move is very awkward due to the short amount of forward distance, short range of the move, and bad physics of the kicks being chained together. All hits are extremely hard to connect without a good set-up, especially on lighter characters. |bairname= |bairdmg=15% (clean right leg), 9% (clean left leg, late) |bairdesc=Does a quick no-look kick backwards, with sex kick properties. Great knockback on early hit, and one of Fox's best edgeguarding and KO moves. Also on of the best back airs in the game. |uairname= |uairdmg=5% (hit 1), 13% (hit 2) |uairdesc=Whips his tail up and kicks immediately after. A very high knockback move, good vertical finisher, can combo out of an up throw on virtually everyone. It and his u-smash give Fox an advantage against light, floaty characters, notably and . Can be Smash DI'd out of however. Widely considered to be the best up air in the game due to it's juggling prowess, speed, power, and ability to be comboed into. |dairname= |dairdmg=2-3% (hits 1-7) |dairdesc=Spins around, drilling downwards with his extended foot. Useful as SHFFL'd approach, with combo potential into moves like uptilt, upsmash, and shine. It is the weakest spike in the game, with weak set knockback. |grabname= |grabdesc= |pummelname= |pummeldmg=3% |pummeldesc=Knees opponent. |fthrowname= |fthrowdmg=4% (hit 1), 3% (throw) |fthrowdesc=Punches the opponent forward. Despite its generally poor combo ability, it can chain-grab on some heavy characters. It is best used for forcing opponents offstage, setting up an edgeguard. |bthrowname= |bthrowdmg=2% (throw), 2% (shots) |bthrowdesc=Throws backwards and shoots the opponent with his Blaster. Used mainly for setting up edgeguards off-stage, though really not many other uses besides mixing up a Fox player's throw game. |uthrowname= |uthrowdmg=2% (throw), 2% (shots) |uthrowdesc=Throws the opponent into the air and shoots them with his Blaster. It can chain-grab fast fallers at lower percentages and combo into moves such as up tilt, up aerial, and up smash. Often considered the best up throw in the game due to its easy kill setups (notably up throw up air), its chaingrab ability, and it's juggle potential (up air juggles after up throw). |dthrowname= |dthrowdmg=1% (shots), 1% (throw) |dthrowdesc=Throws the opponent into the ground and shoots them with his Blaster. Has meteor smash properties, and if performed at the edge of a stage or platform can send the opponent straight down. However, this also allows it to be meteor cancelled or teched, and so tends to be overshadowed by upthrow, which has true combo followups on the majority of the cast. However, it can be used as a mixup on high percent opponent, or techchased into a KO move. |floorfname= |floorfdmg=6% |floorfdesc=Gets up and kicks on both sides. |floorbname= |floorbdmg=6% |floorbdesc=Punches forwards, then kicks backwards. |edgefname= |edgefdmg=6% (body), 8% (legs) |edgefdesc=Throws himself onto the stage with both feet sticking out. |edgesname= |edgesdmg=6% (body), 8% (legs) |edgesdesc=Slowly gets up and kicks in front. |nsname=Blaster |nspage=Blaster (Fox) |nsdmg=2-3% |nsdesc=Fox fires a laser from his Blaster. The fastest projectile used by any character in the game, but it does not make opponents flinch, unlike in the previous game. It is mainly used from long range as short hop lasers or short hop double lasers to camp and bring up damage for an u-throw into uair combo or a u-smash. If used on the ground, there is ending lag. This attack has transcendent priority. |ssname=Fox Illusion |ssdmg=7% |ssdesc=Fox dashes forward, leaving an afterimage behind him. A fairly quick but linear horizontal recovery move. Can be shortened at different distances by pressing the B button again on specific frames. |usname=Fire Fox |usdmg=2% (charge loop), 14%/12% (dash NTSC/PAL) |usdesc=Fox charges up in flames and blasts off in a direction, which can be controlled with the control stick. Unreliable as an attack due to the charge time. Can damage opponents during the charging. Less predictable than illusion given the ability to angle, but still a fairly linear recovery. Techniques such as mangling and sweetspotting give it potent mixups. Has next to no landing lag making it hard to punish on landing and is overall considered the best Recovery Up B in the game due to its distance and mixup potential. It was nerfed in the PAL version of melee however. |dsname=Reflector |dspage=Reflector (Fox) |dsdmg=5% (startup), 1.5x damage for reflected projectiles |dsdesc=Informally referred to as the Shine, it reflects any projectiles that hit it right back at the opponent who fired them for 1.5x damage and knockback. This move has low set knockback, but is an extremely useful semi-spike as it can drag opponents offstage while edgeguarding, to prevent them from recovering - it stuns them as well. Due to the set knockback, it has guaranteed followups on much of the cast at any percentage. The move can be jump cancelled to avoid the ending lag, allowing Fox to quickly jump up offstage (after using a spike, for example), and it also gives him access to the waveshine technique. Fox has invincibility on the first frame of the animation. Considered one of the best moves in the entire game and the best Down B in the game along with Falco's. }} Taunt (Come at me!)|desc-smash=Fox can do a Star Fox conversation that can only be used on Corneria or Venom by quickly tapping Down on the control pad (for one frame). This taunt can only be used once per match.}} Idle pose Crowd cheer Victory poses which translates to "Data Gathered." |desc-2=Looks at the top left of the screen and says "Mission Complete!"; which translates to "Data Gathered." |desc-3=Looks at both sides and says, "Mission Complete!"; which roughly translates to "It was unforgiving." :*If the language is set to Japanese and Fox wins against , he may say , which roughly translates to "Don't worry about it, Falco." |char=Fox}} In competitive play Matchups As one of the only two characters in the game to not have any disadvantageous matchups (the other being ), Fox has, undisputably, the best matchup spread in Melee. He has only three matchups that are even, while he soft counters six characters, counters seven, and hard counters nine (second most in the game, behind ). Fox has many advantages that help him against any character, such as his quick, versatile combo ability, great aerial attacks, and his very effective shine techniques, including a potential waveshine infinite that, even if performed to a limited degree, can shut down a large portion of the cast. Fox, however, does suffer from flaws; his very high falling speed and very low air speed undermine his otherwise relatively long recovery, making him predictable off the stage and easy to gimp and edgeguard by characters such as Falco, and . With his said falling speed, characters such as Marth can easily chaingrab him, and his light weight attribute makes him easy for characters such as to KO horizontally. Notable players :See also: Category:Fox professionals (SSBM) Active * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Inactive * * * * * * Tier placement and history Fox has been a top-tiered character, along with and , since the very first Melee tier list, and has never fallen below third place. However, he was not at the top of the list for the first seven revisions, as Sheik was then considered to be the best character in the game. In the early metagame, although dedicated Fox professionals such as and showed early signs of great technical ability, they were considered far too inconsistent; many of the top players of that era, including and , used Fox only as a secondary for specific matchups, and only a few dedicated mains made any impact with him in serious tournament settings. Eventually, more dedicated Fox mains, such as , , , and began to revitalize his metagame, incorporating much higher levels of technical skill that not many had seen before. These players began placing within the top 8 of MLG-sponsored tournaments, and their consistency and dominance against the majority of other top professional players resulted in Sheik's dethroning from first to third place on the eighth revision of the tier list in July of 2006. Later that year, PC Chris and KoreanDJ placed 1st and 2nd, respectively, at the MLG Las Vegas national championships, using Fox primarily in both sets of grand finals. This cemented Fox's position on the tier list, and since then, he has never fallen from the top spot. Some smashers, however, are currently disputing Fox's standing on the tier list. Although Fox has one of the most developed metagames and the largest notable player base in Melee by far, his players are unable to win as many tournaments as professionals of characters below him, because he is one of the hardest characters to play consistently at the top level; even the best Fox professionals frequently lose in important tournament matches due to technical errors or mistimed reads. Additionally, the Fox matchup is almost universally known, making it extremely difficult for newer players to find tournament success with him. However, due to 's victories at EVO 2013, MLG Anaheim 2014, and EVO 2014 with almost only Fox, as well as his amazing raw potential, Fox's spot on the tier list is currently considered secure. Recent trends in the metagame have seen a major increase in the usage of Fox; he is by far the most common character in doubles matches, and the most common character in singles matches as well. Many players who mained a lower-tiered character, most notably , have abandoned their former character in favor of using only Fox, and other players, such as , switch to Fox when they are having trouble against certain opponents. This overwhelming presence has lead to Fox being placed in his own tier at the top of the most recent tier list (much akin to in the previous iterations of the 64 tier list or in Brawl). However, two of the "gods" — , who uses / , and , who uses — have not recently used Fox against high-level opponents in tournaments. PAL viability Like several other top-tiered characters, Fox was nerfed in the PAL version of Melee. While his nerfs seem insignificant, they actually affect his matchups more than most other nerfed characters. The nerf to his up smash allows several characters to barely survive in that version where they would not have been able to in NTSC, forcing Fox mains to learn later KO percentages for it; at those percentages, however, some up smash setups are no longer guaranteed. Fox's nerfed recovery also weakens his off-stage game, as he can no longer travel as far off-stage to intercept enemies, and hinders his survivability, especially against characters who retain their edgeguarding ability, such as Sheik and Marth. The nerf to his weight exacerbates his decreased survivability, but as a positive note, allows him to escape combos more easily. Fox's matchups against other top-tiered characters become slightly less advantageous in PAL. For example, many professionals believe that Falco wins against Fox overall, as Fox's nerfs allow Falco to survive much longer and KO Fox earlier, while Falco himself is not significantly hindered by his own PAL nerfs. Fox's matchup against Marth, in particular, is much harder, as he is no longer guaranteed a grab out of a waveshine due to Marth's weight changes. Thus, Fox needs to work much harder for a grab setup, hindering his damage racking ability against equally skilled players. However, Marth retains his fantastic punish game against fastfallers and has a much easier time edgeguarding Fox due to his aforementioned recovery nerfs. Along with harder matchups against Peach and even Captain Falcon, some PAL professionals have vouched that Falco or Marth is the best in that particular version of Melee instead. Regardless, Fox still performs very well in PAL regions of Melee, and maintains first place in his own tier on the most recent PAL tier list. Fox players who travel to attend large tournaments, such as , are forced to adjust to these changes in gameplay, which can be an obstacle when fighting in a foreign country or continent. A handful of these players own copies of both the PAL and NTSC versions of the game to allow practice before international tournaments, mainly to practice executing certain Fox-specific setups that are impossible in the PAL version but present in the NTSC version, or to practice accommodating for the lack of these setups with backup strategies. In 1-P Mode In Classic Mode, Fox can appear as an ordinary opponent, an ally or opponent in team battles, alongside , , or , or as a metal opponent. In Fox's appearances, he appears on Corneria or Venom as a regular opponent, and on as a metal opponent. In team battles, he appears on with Captain Falcon, on with Donkey Kong, and on Brinstar with Samus. Adventure Mode Fox appears on Stage 6 of the Adventure Mode on Corneria. In the first part of the stage, the player battles Fox, who will try and avoid the player. After defeating Fox once, the player will have to face him again, this time on offense donning his red costume and featuring "trigger happy" Arwings, which fire at the stage considerably more often. Additionally, there is a chance that the player will fight instead of Fox, if the former is unlocked. All-Star Mode Fox and his allies are fought on Corneria. Event Matches Fox is featured in the following event matches: *'Event 13: Yoshi's Egg': As , the player must protect the Yoshi's Egg item from harm for 55 seconds against a team of Fox, and on Rainbow Cruise. *'Event 20: All-Star Match 2': Fox is the last opponent to be fought in this series of staged battles. Their character battles him on the Corneria stage. With a timer of four minutes, the player must defeat him along with , , , and . *'Event 23: Slippy's Invention': The player chooses any character and must defeat Fox and , who are permanently under the effects of a Cloaking Device, in a two-stock match on Venom. *'Event 36: Space Travelers': The player uses Ness and must defeat Samus, , Fox, Captain Falcon, and Falco. The player battles the first three characters on Fourside and battles the last two on . *'Event 43: Birds of Prey': The player uses Fox and must defeat a team consisting of Falco and Captain Falcon in a two-stock match on Big Blue. Ending Images FoxClassicMode.jpg|Classic Mode FoxAdventureMode.jpg|Adventure Mode FoxAllStarMode.jpg|All-Star mode Trophy descriptions In addition to the normal trophy about Fox as a character, there are two trophies about him as a fighter, unlocked by completing both Adventure and All-Star modes respectively with Fox on any difficulty: :Fox :Fox McCloud is the leader of a band of adventurers-for-hire known as Star Fox. Fox and his fellow pilots Peppy, Slippy, and Falco patrol the Lylat system in their mother ship, the Great Fox. From the cockpit of his Arwing, Fox leads the ceaseless pursuit of the evil scientist Andross, who doomed Fox's father. :*Star Fox 03/93 :Fox Smash :Fox is among the quickest and nimblest of the Smash Bros. characters. His speed is offset by low firepower, however, and he's better at one-on-one fights than melees with multiple foes. His Blaster is unique: it does damage but it doesn't make enemies flinch. His Fox illusion is best used as a surprise attack. :*B: Blaster :*Smash B: Fox Illusion :Fox Smash :Fox falls quickly, so he's a tough target to strike from below; however, this advantage can work against him when he goes flying sideways. You can use the Control Stick to set the direction of the Fire Fox technique while it's charging up. On a side note, Fox is also much lighter than he was in the N64 Super Smash Bros. game. :*Up & B: Fire Fox :*Down & B: Reflector Fox Trophy Melee.png|Classic Fox3.jpg|Smash Fox2.jpg|Smash Alternate costumes Trivia *Fox is one of the only characters in Melee that can do a wall infinite, along with , , , and . *Fox is the only character to have completely lost his forward and back throws from Super Smash Bros. to Melee. and both gained new forward throws in Melee, but their former forward throws were moved to be their up throws instead. *For all three victory poses, Fox is the only character in Melee who says the same quote - "Mission Complete." *Fox is the only character in Melee with two soft-damage yells. *Contrary to popular belief, Fox's taunt in Super Smash Bros. is not used for one of his victory taunts in Melee. It was simply replaced by a new one. *Fox is the only character to be ranked first on a tier list not initially ranked first on the first tier list. *Fox is one of 3 characters to ever be placed in their own tier over the rest of the cast, the other two being in Brawl, and in Super Smash Bros Category:Star Fox universe Category:Fox (SSBM)